Avenged Sevenfold is a band that I have not checked out until very recently. I read that a band that guys in Black Stone Cherry enjoyed were Avenged Sevenfold. That recommendation was good enough for me. I have got a ton of play out of BSC’s debut disc, so I thought I would give Avenged Sevenfold a shot. Lucky for me they just came out with a brand new disc to check out.

I had no idea what this band sounded like until I watched the video for Almost Easy. The video was enough to sell me on the band, and off I was to seek out the latest by Avenged Sevendfold. Lucky for me, the local rock shop got a few copies in early. (This disc should be available in most U.S. retailers on Tuesday, October 30th.)

Avenged Sevenfold was once lumped into the Metalcore category, but don’t really fit into that mold anymore. Singer M.Shadows had to change his vocals approach due to throat and vocal chord damage, of which he had to have surgery to repair.

I was very surprised to find a Metal band that actually plays guitar solos that you can hear, and a vocalist with a very clean voice. How these guys managed to stay off my radar for so long is a great mystery to me, especially considering how popular this band is with today’s generation.

After listening to this record, I think this band may appeal to some older metalheads than today’s youth.

This disc is not perfect by any means. One listen to the track A Little Piece of Heaven and you may find yourself scratching your head in confusion. This sounds a twisted Pink Floyd circus that was given a metal makeover. This is a very strange track to me.

The guitar sound on Dear God has a country twinge to it, and quite frankly is a song that I will skip every time. ( I hope this isn’t the band trying to pull a Bon Jovi. ) The song could actually have some crossover hit potential on the radio, but isn’t to my liking.

Aside from those songs, I could not find many faults with this record. Synyster Gates guitar playing on this record is extremely cool. The Rev has plenty of double bass drumming to get you rocking, and Johnny Christ offers some chugging bass riffs to get your blood pumping.

Critical Acclaim is a very cool head banging tune. Almost Easy should be a massive hit for the band. If you aren’t hooked by the time you hear the killer guitar riffs on Scream your headphones may be broken.

As a whole, this is a pretty cool metal album, and one that I will be spinning quite a bit in the up and coming weeks. If you haven’t ever checked out Avenged Sevenfold before, give the new album a chance. I think you will like it.